Reader’s Annotation: Jane is followed through life at her Aunt Reed all the way up to working as the governess at Thornfield.

Plot Summary:

At the beginning Jane is an orphan living with her evil Aunt Reed. Who lets her cousin bully Jane, and locks her in the room that her uncle died in. Jane has a panic attack thinking that she is seeing ghosts. Her Aunt sends her to a boarding school. Which is run by another evil character Mr. Brocklehurst. She encounters a tough life at Lowood, and when she is 18 she takes a job as a governess at Thornfield. At Thornfield she works with Mrs. Fairfax, but Thornfield is owned by Mr. Rochester. Jane begins to experience some weird happenings, and begins to fall for Mr. Rochester despite his rough exterior. He asks her to marry him and on their wedding day she finds out that he is already married. Mr. Rochester explains that his wife is crazy, and he was forced into the marriage by his father. He asks Jane to come with him to Paris to live as his wife, but Jane refuses. She runs away and finds 3 of her cousins and inherits some money. She is proposed to by her cousin. She declines and goes back to Thornfield to check on it, and finds that Mr. Rochester had sent everyone away and his wife had set the house on fire and killed herself. Jane and Rochester marry, and he begins to recover from his injuries sustained in the fire.

Critical Evaluation:

This is one of my favorite novels, and I think that everyone should read this book. I think this is rightfully a classic novel, and is typically associated with adults but I think teens can gain a lot from it as well. Jane is an independent strong character, and can be seen as a role model figure for teens.

Author Bio/ Information:

“Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly “Patrick Brunty”), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Brontë children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Brontë died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family” (“Charlotte Bronte,” n.d.).

Ties to Curriculum Units: Historical

Booktalking Ideas:

Is Jane Eyre a feminist character?

Challenging Issues: I do not see any challenging issues with this novel.